Meeting of the Minds
by mariteri
Summary: Special Agent Dave Rossi meets Jack Hotchner's tutor looking over their newest case board and finds out that there is a heck of a lot more to this woman than meets the eyes. Rated K for mild language and implied violence.


**Disclaimer—I do not own Harry Potter, Criminal Minds, or any of the characters therein. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.**

**Hi! This idea wouldn't leave me in peace. Hopefully it worked out well. Review to let me know. Enjoy!**

**Please read and review!**

**…**

**Meeting of the Minds**

Having just arrived at the New York Police Station ten minutes before, Dave didn't know exactly what called his attention to the quiet woman looking over the case board. Her golden eyes looked over every piece of paper clipping, picture, and case note scrawled on the board. The humidity of the New York summer had her brown hair going into nearly out of control curls that appeared to irritate her, as they kept getting into her face.

She would stop every now and again, worrying her lower lip. Clearly she was thinking over what she was seeing. But was this because the case was confusing or because she was figuring something out. When she came to a conclusion or read something that gave her the answer she was pondering, her face would light up in understanding and she would move on.

Dave had been studying her for about five minutes before Spencer came over to join him.

"Who is that?" Rossi asked.

Spencer watched her for a moment before saying, "She could be the expert that Captain Tailor told us of."

"Let's find out, shall we?" he said, even as he was advancing towards her.

Just as Dave was approaching her, her cellphone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket, answering with a brisk, "I know I'm late."

He stopped. British? This made her stand out all the more, but decided to wait to see what she said to the person on the other end of the phone conversation. What exactly was she late for?

"Because I promised him that's why!" she snapped. "For heaven sake, Gin! It's a pub crawl, not the World Cup finals. If I miss a few pints, the world won't come to an end." She rolled her expressive brown eyes. "Okay, so I missed going to one of the pubs. Just move on and I'll meet up with you. Yes, I promise I'll call first to find out where you are. Okay, okay, bye!" She hung up the phone, letting out a long breath she turned to David and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know the appeal of a pub crawl would you?"

She was earnest in her question and so he answered, "The comradery. Doing something with your friends."

"Oh." She nodded. "That makes sense. I knew it had to be more than the pints."

"Pardon me, but who are you?" David asked her.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry," she said, turning to face the older man. "I'm Hermione Granger. I tutor Jack Hotchner in Mathematics. Currently, I'm waiting for Agent Hotchner to get out of the meeting he's in to give him the test that I swore on a yellow pages directory that I would see to that his father would get."

Cracking a grin, he asked, "A yellow pages directory?"

"It was the best I could do, seeing as I didn't have a Bible about," she replied. "And I wasn't about to swear on an Algebra book." When he frowned, she answered, "If it can't even find a simple 'X' on its own, it can't help anyone with an oath of any sort."

This had Spenser laughing.

"So you're waiting for Agent Hotchner, but what are you doing looking over the board?" David asked her.

"It's quite the puzzle," she murmured.

He looked at it, answering, "It certainly is." He looked back to her. "What do you see?"

"Connections," she replied. "Links, I suppose."

"There aren't any," David told her.

"Are you sure?" she asked him. "Three of the four on this board were dying. That's a link."

"Wait a minute," Spencer stopped her, coming forward. "Where's the evidence of that?"

She pointed to the first victim. "He had clubbed fingers, and judging from all the photographs of him, was a chronic smoker. We're talking two packs a day minimum. And then there's the latest photo of him." She pulled it down, handing it over to Spencer. "Barely discernable indentations near his ears, blue lips and nail beds, and an oxygen tank off to the side. It's a tie on heart or lungs. But in either case, it wasn't good." She looked to Dave. "He was dying either way." She pointed to the next victim. "Did you notice that she didn't have a single hair on her face in the last picture of her? What's more, she was bald as well. But this was something new, which is substantiated by the older photos of the woman." Hermione pointed to her. "This woman had a tumor in or around her head area. And before you ask, facial burns from radiation treatments near her jaw line, loss of teeth, and a very big drop in weight back me up on this."

Spencer put on his glasses and looked them over. "She's correct. All of it." He looked sharply over to David. "The next one over we knew was a diabetic, but I don't understand…"

"Brittle diabetes," she said, pointing out all the different medications that were in the photos of the young man. "So many medications and all geared towards not just rapid blood sugar control but such powerful doses at that." She looked to them. "His blood sugar wasn't just an issue, but a deadly one with blood sugars going into what must have been the thousands."

"Doses?" David asked, to which she pointed to the I.V. needles in one of the pictures.

"Most take doses in smaller quantities, but look at how big those syringes are," she murmured. "He was taking full cubic centimeters worth of medication that diabetics normally tend to take much less of. That combined with the medications…" She looked to David. "Needless to say that this doesn't denote a minor issue." She worried her lower lip and added, "Bet you dollars to donuts that he had a couple of toes amputated."

"His family claimed it was because he had been in an accident," Dave said.

She shrugged, but said, "Given the nature of diabetes it may have started that way. Or it could have been as simple as him tripping or whatever it was that happened and the doctors discovering the infection then." Hermione looked to the next victim. "This is the odd man out. Perfectly healthy and unlike the other three, he was thrashed to death." She looked to David. "It wasn't something the killer planned. Weapons of opportunity and clear defensive wounds on the victim. He did not go gently into that good night. But why the same signature?" Realization hit her. "Oh, the killer couldn't help it." She looked to Spencer. "He did what he knew. Even knowing that it wasn't what he normally did. He stayed the path."

He looked at it and murmured, "Makes sense."

"Just what do you do for a living?" David asked her.

"Currently I'm teaching a mathematics course over at Quantico for the United States military," she told him. "A mixed crew of the military, but for the most part Marines are taking the course."

"And you have the clearance for that?" David asked her.

"Seeing as they did get me out of M.I.6 to teach them, yes. I'm tutoring Jack as a favor to his aunt."

Just then Hotch came out of the meeting and looked panicked at the sight of Hermione being there.

"Agent Hotchner," she said, smiling as she pulled the test out of her purse. "Let me assure you that your son is fine." She held out the test to him. "In fact, given his test scores, I would have to say more than fine at the moment."

He took up the paper and a broad grin lit his face. "A ninety-eight?!" He looked to her. "That's amazing!"

"I told you he could do it," she replied. "When I told him that I was going to be going to New York City to meet up with some of my friends, he made me swear to bring that test over to you so you could see it."

"Thanks," he said quietly.

"Certainly," she murmured. "Now, if you'll please excuse me, I'm late for a pub crawl." She made a sour face. "I can't help but to think I'd be more excited about it if it were a bakery crawl." She turned to David and Spenser. "Lovely meeting you two. Maybe the next time we meet, you'll give me your names before you give me the third degree?" Laughing she turned to Hotch. "Until later, sir."

"Be careful while you're out there," he told her.

"Yes, sir," she replied. "Good luck with your angel of mercy with a temper problem."

Aaron looked to the others in shock. "What was she speaking about?"

Spenser pointed to the board. "Rossi found her looking at the board…"

Rossi rushed after her, finding her slipping on gloves as she was looking to the summer shower outside. She looked over to him with a smile.

"My name's David Rossi," he told her.

She held out her hand to him and he shook it slowly.

"Lovely to meet you, sir," she murmured. "Good luck with your case."

"Thank you," he said. "I have a question."

"I can't wait to hear it," she replied.

"What's an agent of M.I.6 doing teaching math to Marines?"

Chuckling, she said, "I have asked myself the very same thing when going over their test scores." Hermione sobered a moment. "I needed a change of pace. Something a bit more…" She thought over her next words. "Normal." She ended up shaking her head. "What is normal exactly? I've given up trying to figure that one out."

He looked into her amber eyes and saw the weariness for the first time. It aged her, making him think that she had seen far more of the world than many would have thought.

"Whatever the case, you could say this was just a break from the stress I was going through before," Hermione told him. "Everyone needs a break now and again. _Addio, Agente Rossi. Che la caccia sia rapida e di successo_."

Startled he replied, "_Grazie_."

Stepping out of the station, she opened her umbrella and she left the police station with David watching her from the doorway. Morgan came over to him, papers in his hands and looking very serious.

"Rossi, I think we're dealing with an angel of mercy killer," he told the older agent.

"I know," he said absently.

Confused he said, "What do you mean you know? I just received the coroner's reports now."

Smiling he said, "Let me tell you about this visitor we just had…"

**The End!**

**…**

**Translations**

**Italian**

**Hermione-**

**Goodbye, Agent Rossi. May your hunt be swift and successful.**

**Rossi-**

**Thank you.**

**Translations made with the Google Translator on my smartphone. I accept any and all mistakes being my own, but the ones made with that application are only partly my doing.**

**Thanks for reading! Let me know how you liked it. Happy New Year, everyone! May the golden light of good fortune shine on us all in this upcoming year.**


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